Having been knocked out of the cup, this weekend will consist of league action for Aston Villa when they host Ipswich Town.

The relegation strugglers head to Villa Park to face a side that halted Hull City’s six-game winning run, coming back from two goals down to draw with Nigel Adkins’ men.

Jack Grealish, Axel Tuanzebe and Henri Lansbury are all set to miss this weekend’s game against former manager Paul Lambert’s current club.

Glenn Whelan is close to fitness but remains a doubt, while Mile Jedinak is back fit and in contention to feature.

Villa need a win if they are to reignite their dwindling play-off hopes, as they look to try and cut the gap to the top-six to four points, but only if results go their way.

A win could see Dean Smith’s men move up to eighth in the table; such is the tightness of the league.

With that said, this is the Aston Villa XI that the club’s manager should play to give them the best chance of getting the all-important three points against Ipswich tomorrow night:

Lovre Kalinic will make his third appearance for Villa in goal after his move to the club earlier this month.

A back four of Alan Hutton, Tommy Elphick, James Chester and Neil Taylor will operate in front of him.

In a midfield three in front of them will be John McGinn on the right-hand side, Conor Hourihnae through the middle, and Birkir Bjarnason to the left.

And spearheading the 4-3-3 formation will be Albert Adomah wide on the right with Andre Green, 20, wide left – both of whom will be expected to defend to make it a five-man midfield without the ball.

Tammy Abraham will lead the line through the centre of the pitch as he looks to add to his 17 goals to push Villa up the table and closer to the play-off places.